I see her.  I watch her.  I've watched her ever since she returned here.  And now I haunt this place – this room.  She was afraid that I would return in the beginning…and then she heard of my passing…and now I haunt this place.  But she has yet to know that she is haunted.  She does not see me.

I have no physical form.  Not that I need one.  If anything, this way is better than it was before…to be able to roam…and to haunt.  To haunt her.

She runs her fingers along her wooden desk and shuffles through a few papers she can't read.  She turns to the lamp sitting there and gracefully blows it out.  She turns and curls up on the bed.  It seems so familiar, the exact same movement, the exact same motions, as the night I attacked.  The night she should have died.  I smile invisibly as I decide to remind her of that night.

And of course, to make known to her that she is haunted.

"Dearest Lucy…" I purr into the night.  She sits up, eyes wide with fear, but looks around to see no one.  Of course, she cannot see me.  I continue speaking as I edge toward where she sits.  "What?  You weren't expecting me?" I ask her almost tauntingly.  She does not answer but begins to quake with fear.  I ignore the silence and continue once more.  "But who else can I come to?  Sympathy…tenderness…" I brush her shoulder, and she can feel me – not so solidly as before, but she senses me, feels the coldness brush her shoulder, as she shivers.  I lean easily and inexistent against the iron bed frame, and smile once more as the next words come easily.  "Ah but tonight," I whisper as I draw closer, "tonight, you have NOT had another visitor.  It's just you – " I caress her face, " – and me."

She stares out at the blank darkness, her wide eyes full of terror.  Finally after seeking, but not finding, the owner of the voice she hears, she gains the courage to speak.  "W-Who's there?"

"Dearest Lucy, you don't remember?"  I move in closer.

"Nellie, this isn't funny!  You know how much this frightened me!  Stop it!"  She shifts slightly, glancing around.  She obviously doesn't know where I am, as her back is to me and she unintentionally moves closer.  My movements are swift.  I place one arm around her shoulders and pull her in.  I begin to whisper in her ear, despite the struggle she puts up to escape my grasp.

"Now, dearest Lucy, are you sure of who I am?" I breathe.

"Spider?"  She sounds frightened, but I can hear the hint of hope in her voice.  "Spider, please…"

"I'm The Spider, am I?  Why are you so sure about that?"

"Because no one treats me so wretchedly as this!"  She tries to escape, but my grip is tight.

"Ah, but that is where you are wrong, my dear.  Don't you remember?  That lovely night I visited you?  That night that should have been your last?"  She begins to shake again, and her voice is choked with tears as she speaks.

"Who is this?  Please…"

"Please whatWhat are you pleading?"  My arm snakes around her waist and pulls her in closer.  Her hand immediately flies to the limb constricting her, but pulls away again in surprise.

"Why can't I feel you?"  I smile.

"Would you believe me if I told you?  I doubt that.  You dream, you believe, but only if those dreams benefit you."

"A-am I dreaming?"

"Dreaming?  Wouldn't you wish that?  No, Lucy dearest.  No, this is very real.  Have you come to grips with the reality of it all yet?"

"Reality of what?"  She tries to pull away again, but I pull her back and whisper sinisterly once more.

"That you are haunted," I run a hand down her arm, "by an old friend of yours."

There is a moment of silence.  "Mr. Hyde?" she breathes, and I smile yet again.

"Yes, my sweet.  Very good…"

"Why are you here?  How are you here?  I thought you…"

"Died?"  I finish for her and chuckle slightly.  "Yes.  And you should have too.  And this time, you will!"

The door suddenly opens, flooding the small bedroom with light.

"Luce?" a female voice calls into the night.

"Nellie!" Lucy gasps gratefully.  I slowly fade from the room, and Lucy, recognizing her temporary freedom, runs to her friend, ranting about a nightmare.  Oh, she wishes it was nightmare.  But she knows that it is much worse than that.  As I leave, I silently vow to come back…

…to haunt her…